


House Warming

by Reecey



Series: Like A Totally Different Person [3]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, didn't realise Travis and Scarlett broke up so just assume friends, nothing dangerous though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 13:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11441874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reecey/pseuds/Reecey
Summary: A little get together at Home Plate might just be the thing needed to break the ice between Nick and Marquita.Or, at least, Ellie hopes it is.





	House Warming

Marquita was probably the best friend that Ellie had ever had.

That wasn't really a slight against her other friends, they were (mostly) great people and fun to be around.

It was just that Marquita was really,  _ really _ good at being a friend.

Had Hancock ever bought a house just so Ellie could have sex with her boyfriend?

No.

(And that time he offered to lend a room in the Statehouse didn’t count because he asked if he could watch.)

Had Nick ever handed teasing notes over to Yefim for her?

No. 

(Granted, she didn’t  _ want  _ him to, but that wasn’t really the point.)

Had Piper ever got her a sparkly pink dress and done her hair for her so she’d look nice for a little get together?

Again, no.

(Piper had no excuses.)

Marquita had done all that and more.

Ellie couldn’t ask for a better friend.

So naturally, picking out the best overlap of sexy and classy in outfit form out of her wardrobe was the least she could do.

Doing her hair up was nothing.

Ordering Nick around to give out invites and sort out the argument he’d caused when he’d bought drinks down at the Dugout was the simplest task in the world.

(Vadim could put in an appearance for an hour, but then he had to go home so Yefim could come over.)

It also helped that it would be making sure that Marquita’s outfit would be a surprise.

Truth be told, Ellie was pretty damn sure that the slinky black dress with a split that made Marquita’s legs go on for days, the bright red heels, pinup makeup and Ellie’s best attempt at a pinup hairdo was right up Nick’s alley, but she wasn’t as certain as she’d like to be.

Or particularly wanted to know, if she was totally honest.

(Marquita’s beautiful tight curls were not what Ellie was used to dealing with, but, if anything, her lack of expertise with the texture gave the ‘do a rather debauched look. Which was only a plus.)

“I’m not sure, Ellie,” Marquita said nervously, inspecting herself in the mirror she’d cobbled together from various shards she’d found. “You don’t think this is too much for a night in, do you?”

“Of course not! It’s perfect.”

For Ellie’s purposes, anyway.

“Anyway, you show up in anything less and you know Vadim will get worried.”

Marquita laughed.

“Yeah, and the last thing anyone wants is a worried Vadim.”

It was like a mnemonic at this point, ‘A worried Vadim equals harebrained schemes’.

“Exactly.”

“Okay,” Marquita said, shoulders set more confidently. “I can do this. It’s a meeting of friends, no need to be nervous at all.”

“Of course not,” Ellie concurred cheerfully.

Through careful planning, and a lot of luck, Nick and Vadim showed up with food and more drinks after Travis, Scarlett and Piper had shown up.

Midway through a conversation with Travis, halfway through a bottle of beer, Marquita was too distracted to be nervous when the two men walked in.

“Only an hour? Marquita I am insulted,” Vadim grumbled, putting his box of food on the table.

She looked over with a wide smile.

“My deepest apologies, Vadim, but you have to let your brother have some fun with his girlfriend  _ some _ time.”

More grumbling and he walked over.

Marquita stood and gave him a bear hug that he returned so hard that she was lifted off the ground, kicking her legs slightly and squealing.

“You are right of course.”

“Always am! Now put me down!”

Vadim let out a laugh as big as his personality and put her feet back onto the ground.

Marquita flopped back onto her sofa dramatically.

“I’m dead, Travis, the lack of oxygen up there has killed me.”

He patted her on the shoulder in commiseration.

Ellie was too busy watching Nick try and be nonchalant, putting bottles into the box of ice so they’d be nice and cold, co-incidentally not facing in the direction Marquita was in, to notice Vadim until he was looming over her.

“Hi Vadim!” she smiled.

He grinned back and suddenly she was dragged into a hug like the one he’d given Marquita.

“At least we can be ghosts together,” Marquita joked between sips of her beer and glancing at Nick.

For once, he was wearing something different.

He liked his detective get up so much because it distracted from the aspects of his appearance that he didn’t like.

It’s not like the suit he was wearing drew attention to his hand, but it didn’t so much make him look like he was going to comment on someone’s gams going up to their eyeballs. So it wasn’t his preference.

Judging by Marquita’s looks, though, it was definitely hers.

Vadim put Ellie back onto the sofa she had been sitting on and sat next to her, the idea of personal space obviously being a foreign concept to the man.

With one arm casually draped around her shoulders, he turned to Marquita.

“You didn’t tell me you were thinking of buying a house in the city!”

“It was kind of a spur of the moment decision.”

“You managed to furnish it very quickly.”

Marquita shrugged, “well, you know me. I have a lot of friends here.”

“I remember when Arturo had to bail you out when you punched Myrna in the face,” Scarlett giggled. “She was so angry with him.”

“Wait, what?” Nick demanded, finally turning around, “when was this?”

“Last month,” Piper explained as he marched over to look disapprovingly at Marquita, “you were out looking for Davey and Blue had just returned from a long stint of Minutemen work. By the time you got back, the hubbub had died down already.”

“And nobody told me because…?”

“I asked them not to,” Marquita replied, “I didn’t want you getting worried.”

“Worried? I’m angry. I thought you knew better than to get into fights.”

She drained the rest of her beer and stood, brushing past him to get to get to the cooler.

He firmly took her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

There was a tense moment as they looked at each other, and for a moment Ellie thought that this had all been a terrible mistake.

“She said that she hoped you wouldn’t come back this time,” Marquita said quietly, “she was so callous, I lost my temper. It won’t happen again, I’m not going near that woman any more.”

Nick’s grip loosened and his hand slid down to her wrist.

“I’m sorry I got mad,” he replied gently, “I’m glad you’ll fight for my honour. But I don’t want you getting kicked out of the city. You’re the best thing to happen to this place in a long time.”

Marquita’s expression turned shy again.

“There’s no need to exaggerate.”

“I ain’t exaggerating, doll.”

The way Ellie saw it, either Vadim ruined everything, or he was doing the rest of them a massive favour, when he burst out with;

“The best thing since Ellie, surely!”

Marquita gently pulled her arm away from Nick and scurried over for another bottle of beer that she opened and raised.

“Yes, to Ellie! The best thing since sliced bread!”

“Hear hear,” Nick concurred, picking up and raising Marquita’s empty bottle in lieu of one of his own. It just seemed to make her more shy.

Ellie preened under the attention, “thank you, thank you. I am the best.”

“I should do an expose!” Piper declared, “‘Ellie Perkins, the greatest person alive’.”

“Ooh, ooh!” Scarlett yelped, raising her hand, “I have a quote for you! ‘Ever since she started dating Yefim, he’s been a lot less grumpy! It’s really improved working conditions at the Dugout.’”

Piper pulled her notebook out of her pocket and hurriedly scrawled that down in her own personal shorthand.

“Can I get a corroborating quote on that, Vadim?”

He nodded, “my brother’s spirits have definitely improved.”

As the hour passed, Ellie snuck looks over at Nick and Marquita.

She was sitting next to Travis again, sure, but Nick was sitting in the chair they’d put at the right angle to that sofa, and the two were angled towards each other.

They joined in the conversation, sure, but their attention was mostly focused on each other.

Maybe, just maybe, Ellie was as great as everyone was joking she was.

**Author's Note:**

> Gotta be honest, haven't gone back to check on Travis since Confidence Man. I didn't realise he and Scarlett didn't work out until after I wrote this.
> 
> They're still both Marquita's friends, so they both have business being there.
> 
> Who knows, maybe Scarlett has a thing for Piper? Infer as you wish.


End file.
